American aircraft continued north, sighting but not attacking many small cargo ships and fishing boats. At 7:30 am they located a German convoy comprising the steamer and the tanker Schleswig under the escort of the minesweeper . Eight of the Dauntlesses attacked Schleswig and another pair targeted Kerkplein, inflicting significant damage on both. One of the escorting Wildcats was damaged by gunfire during the attack and returned to Ranger. Schleswig was beached to avoid sinking, and later salvaged and brought to Bodø for repairs. Following this engagement, the eight Dauntlesses which had yet to drop their bombs continued on to Bodø where they attacked four small German cargo ships: the ore carrier was sunk, was badly damaged, received minor damage from a near miss, and the small steamer was machine-gunned. Two of the dive bombers were shot down by anti-aircraft guns located on the shore and ships. The crew of one of the aircraft survived and were taken prisoner after ditching into the sea, but both men on the other Dauntless were killed. The Southern Attack Group began launching from Ranger at 7:08 am. It was made up of ten Avenger torpedo bombers and six Wildcats. Two of the Avengers attacked the Norwegian cargo ship off the island of Løkta south of Sandnessjøen; the ship was set on fire and beached to avoid sinking. Three of the Norwegian crew members on Topeka were killed in the attack, along with several German soldiers manning anti-aircraft guns on board the ship. One of the attacking aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the shore with only its pilot, Lt(jg) John H. Palmer, surviving. Topeka was carrying a cargo of cement and timber, and had until the previous evening been sailing in an escorted German convoy. Local fishermen made their way to the burning vessel to help rescue those on board. Following the attack on Topeka the American aircraft continued north, and bombed and sank the Norwegian cargo liner off Fagervika without loss of life. The crew of Vaagan had observed the bombing of Topeka and brought their unarmed ship close to shore, lowering the lifeboats in preparation for a possible attack. Vaagan was carrying a cargo mostly of food for civilian consumption, and the sinking led to a margarine shortage in parts of northern Norway. The force then bombed La Plata, causing her to be beached on the island Rødøya where